Apple Releases Java Security Update for OSX: Kills Flashback

Many of our readers here at Envato use OSX as their main platform for designing, freelancing and coding. There are many different features that we love about our OS, but one very important aspect of OSX is the lack of many malicious threats to our computers and our precious files within it.

Sadly, there are still a few threats out there that could, if infected, slow down your computer, steal sensitive information and run scripts and programs without you even knowing about it. It is specially alarming as OSX and Mac computers become more popular every year.

The latest trojan that has been talked about for the past few weeks is called Flashback. According to Russian antivirus firm Dr. Web, over 600, 000 macs have been infected worldwide. The trojan can be installed upon visiting a malicious website, and it will attempt to connect your computer to a botnet. The trojan targets a vulnerability in Java, which was recently updated by Apple.

This afternoon, Apple has officially released Java for OS 2012-003 to remove the “most common variants of the Flashback malware.”

OSX Lion users that did not install Java on Lion should not be affect as Lion does not come with Java by default. However, the update is for both OSX 10.7 and 10.6 and it is an update recommended to all of Mac users with Java installed.